Archive migration system

ABSTRACT

A computer detects that a threshold value associated with a storage capacity of a first storage account has been exceeded. The computer determines one or more other storage accounts to migrate a determined amount of data contained in the first storage account, wherein the determined one or more storage accounts are linked to the first storage account. The computer migrates the determined amount of data from the first storage account to the determined one or more other storage accounts.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to archiving, and moreparticularly to the migration of archived data.

BACKGROUND

Archiving is a necessary part of today's day and age. With the sheervolume of data that is stored both personally and by corporations, analternative storage location is often needed in order to assure that noimportant data is deleted. Often, companies that provide server-sidearchive storage provide a small portion of storage for free in order toentice clients, however, after this small portion is exceeded, storagespace can be quite expensive.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a method, system, and computer programproduct for determining one or more accounts for the migration of data.A computer detects that a threshold value associated with a storagecapacity of a first storage account has been exceeded. The computerdetermines one or more other storage accounts to migrate a determinedamount of data contained in the first storage account, wherein thedetermined one or more storage accounts are linked to the first storageaccount. The computer migrates the determined amount of data from thefirst storage account to the determined one or more other storageaccounts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an archive migration system, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of the archive programof FIG. 1 in determining one or more accounts for the migration ofarchived data, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting the hardware components of thearchive system of FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying Figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates archive system 100, in accordance with an embodimentof the invention. In an exemplary embodiment, archive system 100includes computing device 110, computing device 120, computing device130 and server 140 all interconnected via network 135.

In the example embodiment, network 135 is the Internet, representing aworldwide collection of networks and gateways to support communicationsbetween devices connected to the Internet. Network 135 may include, forexample, wired, wireless, or fiber optic connections. In otherembodiments, network 135 may be implemented as an intranet, a local areanetwork (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN). In general, network 135 canbe any combination of connections and protocols that will supportcommunications between computing device 110, computing device 120,computing device 130, and server 140.

Computing device 110 may be a desktop computer, a notebook, a laptopcomputer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a smart-phone, a thinclient, or any other electronic device or computing system capable ofreceiving and sending data to and from other computing devices, such asserver 140, via network 135. Although not shown, optionally, computingdevice 110 can comprise a cluster of web devices executing the samesoftware to collectively process requests. Computing device 110 isdescribed in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

Computing device 120 may be a desktop computer, a notebook, a laptopcomputer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a smart-phone, a thinclient, or any other electronic device or computing system capable ofreceiving and sending data to and from other computing devices, such asserver 140, via network 135. Although not shown, optionally, computingdevice 120 can comprise a cluster of web devices executing the samesoftware to collectively process requests. Computing device 120 isdescribed in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

Computing device 130 may be a desktop computer, a notebook, a laptopcomputer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a smart-phone, a thinclient, or any other electronic device or computing system capable ofreceiving and sending data to and from other computing devices, such asserver 140, via network 135. Although not shown, optionally, computingdevice 130 can comprise a cluster of web devices executing the samesoftware to collectively process requests. Computing device 130 isdescribed in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

Server 140 includes archive program 142, archive storage 144, archivestorage 146, and archive storage 148. Server 140 may be a desktopcomputer, a notebook, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a handhelddevice, a smart-phone, a thin client, or any other electronic device orcomputing system capable of receiving and sending data to and from othercomputing devices such as computing device 110 via network 135. Althoughnot shown, optionally, server 140 can comprise a cluster of web serversexecuting the same software to collectively process the requests for theweb pages as distributed by a front end server and a load balancer.Server 140 is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

Archive storage 144 is an archive storage account pertaining to aportion of one or more storage devices allocated to the user ofcomputing device 110. In the example embodiment, data transmitted toserver 140 by the user of computing device 110 for the purposes ofarchiving is stored in the portion of one or more storage devicescorresponding to archive storage 144.

Archive storage 146 is an archive storage account pertaining to aportion of one or more storage devices allocated to the user ofcomputing device 120. In the example embodiment, data transmitted toserver 140 by the user of computing device 120 for the purposes ofarchiving is stored in the portion of one or more storage devicescorresponding to archive storage 146.

Archive storage 148 is an archive storage account pertaining to aportion of one or more storage devices allocated to the user ofcomputing device 130. In the example embodiment, data transmitted toserver 140 by the user of computing device 130 for the purposes ofarchiving is stored in portion of one or more storage devicescorresponding to archive storage 148.

Archive program 142 is a program capable of determining whether anarchive storage account has exceeded or will exceed a thresholdpercentage of the storage capacity allocated to the account. Inaddition, in the example embodiment, archive program 142 is capable ofidentifying which archive storage accounts are linked together andreceiving and transmitting information related to the linkage betweenarchive storage accounts. Archive program 142 is further capable ofmigrating data between archive storage accounts. The operations andfunctions of archive program 142 are described in more detail withreference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of archive program 142in determining whether an archive storage account has exceeded or willexceed a threshold percentage of the storage capacity allocated to theaccount. In the example embodiment, archive program 142 determineswhether the user of computing device 110 has exceeded a thresholdpercentage based on the storage capacity allocated to the user ofcomputing device 110 (decision 202). In the example embodiment, thethreshold percentage is 90%. Therefore, archive program 142 determineswhether the amount of data archived by the user of computing device 110into the storage corresponding to archive storage 144 exceeds 90%capacity. For example, if the total storage capacity corresponding toarchive storage 144 is 100 GB (gigabits), archive program 142 determineswhether the amount of data archived by the user of computing device 110exceeds 90 GB. In other embodiments, the threshold percentage may be adifferent value.

If archive program 142 determines that the user of computing device 110has not exceeded the threshold percentage based on the storage capacityallocated to the user of computing device 110 (decision 202, “NO”branch) archive program 142 does not migrate any data from the storagecapacity corresponding to archive storage 144. In other embodiments, theuser of computing device 110 may initiate the migration of data to otherarchive storage accounts via user input.

If archive program 142 determines that the user of computing device 110has exceeded the threshold percentage based on the storage capacityallocated to the user of computing device 110 (decision 202, “YES”branch), archive program 142 identifies archive storage accounts linked(or to be linked) to the archive storage account associated with theuser of computing device 110 (i.e., archive storage 144) (step 204). Inthe example embodiment, archive storage program 142 receives user inputfrom the user of computing device 110 via network 135 detailing thearchive storage accounts that are to be linked to the archive storage144 (the archive storage account of the user of computing device 110).In this embodiment, after receiving the user input, archive program 142links the detailed archive storage accounts. For example, if the user ofcomputing device 110 inputs that archive storage 146 and archive storage148 are to be linked to the archive storage account of the user ofcomputing device 110 (archive storage 144), archive program 142 linksthe archive storage accounts and maintains the linkage in memory. Inother embodiments, archive program 142 may identify archive storageaccounts to be linked to the archive storage 144 by analyzing thecontent of the archive storage 144. For example, if archive storage 144contained primarily emails, archive program 142 may analyze the emailsto determine the recipients of the transmitted emails and the senders ofthe received emails. If archive storage 144 determines that the primaryrecipients/senders (“most conversed users”) are the user of computingdevice 120 and the user of computing device 130, archive program 142 maylink archive storage 144 with archive storage 146 (associated with theuser of computing device 120) and archive storage 148 (associated withthe user of computing device 130). In further embodiments, archiveprogram 142 may analyze all archive storage accounts to determine whicharchive storage accounts contain the largest amount of available spaceor may identify accounts to link based on available server quota.Furthermore, archive program 142 may also identify archive storageaccounts to link to the account of the user of computing device 110based on geographic location or geographic proximity to the user ofcomputing device 110.

Archive program 142 then determines one or more accounts to utilize forarchiving data from the archive storage account of the user of computingdevice 110 (archive storage 144) (step 206). In the example embodiment,archive program 142 determines one or more accounts to utilize forarchiving data from archive storage 144 based on user input provided bythe user of computing device 110. In the example embodiment, the user ofcomputing device 110 provides input detailing a hierarchical list of thearchive storage accounts to migrate data to in case that the thresholdpercentage for archive storage 144 is exceeded. In other embodiments,archive program 142 may split the amount of data determined to bearchived based on the available amount that is available to migration tothe linked archive storage accounts. For example, if 30 GB of data needto migrated and the linked archive storage accounts (determined to bearchive storage 146 and archive storage 148) have 10 GB and 20 GB ofavailable storage capacity, archive program 142 may split the 30 GB ofdata into 10 GB and 20 GB blocks. In addition, if 10 GB of data arerelevant to the user of computing device 120 (i.e., the user ofcomputing device is the recipient/sender of emails, owner/co-owner ofdocuments, etc.), archive program 142 may split the data up so that all10 GB relevant to the user of computing device 120 is migrated toarchive storage 146 (associated with the user of computing device 120).Furthermore, if a third linked archive storage account has an availablestorage capacity of 30 GB or more, archive program 142 may, instead ofsplitting up the data, migrate all 30 GB of data to the third linkedarchive storage account. In addition, in the example embodiment, archiveprogram 142 may migrate data based on the date created (i.e., in thecase of emails, old emails are migrated, while newer emails aremaintained in archive storage 144).

Archive program 142 then archives the data to the determined one or moreaccounts (step 208). In the example embodiment, archive program 142archives a determined amount of data from archive storage 144 to thedetermined one or more accounts. In the example embodiment, thedetermined amount of data that is migrated is based on the thresholdpercentage value discussed above. For example, if 30 GB of data needs tobe migrated from archive storage 144 in order for archive storage 144 tobe below the 90% threshold value discussed above, archive program 142migrates 30 GB to the determined one or more archive storage accounts.The migrated data may be split up as described above. In the exampleembodiment, archive program 142 transmits a request to the user(s)associated with the determined one or more accounts asking permission tomigrate data to the determined one or more accounts. If the user(s)responds affirmatively, archive program 142 continues with themigration. If the user(s) respond in the negative, archive program 142does not migrate data to the determined one or more archive storageaccounts, and instead determines another linked archive storage accountin the manner described above. In addition, referring to the exampleabove, the user(s) may respond affirmatively, but request that only 10GB be migrated to the determined one or more accounts. In thissituation, archive program 142 migrates 10 GB of the 30 GB anddetermines one or more other accounts to migrate the other 20 GB to.Furthermore, in the example embodiment, the migrated data is encryptedso the user of the archive storage account to which the data is migratedto is not able to gain access. For example, if archive program 142migrates data from archive storage 144 to archive storage 146, the userof computing device 120 (user associated with archive storage 146) wouldnot be able to access the migrated data without the appropriatepermission and login credentials.

In the example embodiment, the user of computing device 110 may be ableto download a list, from archive program 142 via network 140, containingall archive storage accounts that archive program 142 has migrated datato (from archive storage 144), and information related to the migrateddata. Referring to the example above, where archive program 142 migratesdata from archive storage 144 to archive storage 146 and archive storage148, the user of computing device 110 may download a list containingarchive storage 146 and archive storage 148 and the migrated datacontained in each archive storage account. Furthermore, the user ofcomputing device 110 may also download a portion or all of the migratedarchived data to computing device 110. If the migrated archived data hasbeen split it may be merged locally or merged by archive program 142 andthen transmitted to computing device 110.

After archive program 142 has migrated data from archive storage 144 toone or more archive storage accounts, if the one or more archive storageaccounts exceed the relevant threshold percentage, archive program 142may migrate data from the one or more archive storage accounts toanother archive storage account in a similar manner as described above.However, in the example embodiment, archive program 142 may not migrate“migrated data” back into the original archive storage account. Forexample, if archive program 142 migrates data from archive storage 144to archive storage 146, and subsequently the amount of data stored inarchive storage 146 exceeds the threshold percentage, archive program142 will migrate the necessary amount of data to another archive storageaccount, however, archive program 142 will not migrate any data back toarchive storage 146. In other embodiments, archive program 142 maymigrate data from archive storage 146 to any archive storage accountincluding archive storage 144.

The foregoing description of various embodiments of the presentinvention has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive nor to limit theinvention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may beapparent to a person skilled in the art of the invention are intended tobe included within the scope of the invention as defined by theaccompanying claims.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of components of computing device 110,computing device 120, computing device 130, and server 140 of an archivemigration system 100 of FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. It should be appreciated that FIG. 3 provides only anillustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitationswith regard to the environments in which different embodiments may beimplemented. Many modifications to the depicted environment may be made.

Computing device 110, computing device 120, computing device 130, andserver 140 may include one or more processors 302, one or morecomputer-readable RAMs 304, one or more computer-readable ROMs 306, oneor more computer readable storage media 308, device drivers 312,read/write drive or interface 314, network adapter or interface 316, allinterconnected over a communications fabric 318. Communications fabric318 may be implemented with any architecture designed for passing dataand/or control information between processors (such as microprocessors,communications and network processors, etc.), system memory, peripheraldevices, and any other hardware components within a system.

One or more operating systems 310, and one or more application programs311, for example, debugging program 118, are stored on one or more ofthe computer readable storage media 308 for execution by one or more ofthe processors 302 via one or more of the respective RAMs 304 (whichtypically include cache memory). In the illustrated embodiment, each ofthe computer readable storage media 308 may be a magnetic disk storagedevice of an internal hard drive, CD-ROM, DVD, memory stick, magnetictape, magnetic disk, optical disk, a semiconductor storage device suchas RAM, ROM, EPROM, flash memory or any other computer-readable tangiblestorage device that can store a computer program and digitalinformation.

Computing device 110, computing device 120, computing device 130, andserver 140 may also include a R/W drive or interface 314 to read fromand write to one or more portable computer readable storage media 326.Application programs 311 on Computing device 110, computing device 120,computing device 130, and server 140 may be stored on one or more of theportable computer readable storage media 326, read via the respectiveR/W drive or interface 314 and loaded into the respective computerreadable storage media 308.

Computing device 110, computing device 120, computing device 130, andserver 140 may also include a network adapter or interface 316, such asa TCP/IP adapter card or wireless communication adapter (such as a 4Gwireless communication adapter using OFDMA technology). Applicationprograms 311 on Computing device 110, computing device 120, computingdevice 130, and server 140 may be downloaded to the computing devicefrom an external computer or external storage device via a network (forexample, the Internet, a local area network or other wide area networkor wireless network) and network adapter or interface 316. From thenetwork adapter or interface 316, the programs may be loaded ontocomputer readable storage media 308. The network may comprise copperwires, optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls,switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers.

Computing device 110, computing device 120, computing device 130, andserver 140 may also include a display screen 320, a keyboard or keypad322, and a computer mouse or touchpad 324. Device drivers 312 interfaceto display screen 320 for imaging, to keyboard or keypad 322, tocomputer mouse or touchpad 324, and/or to display screen 320 forpressure sensing of alphanumeric character entry and user selections.The device drivers 312, R/W drive or interface 314 and network adapteror interface 316 may comprise hardware and software (stored on computerreadable storage media 308 and/or ROM 306).

The programs described herein are identified based upon the applicationfor which they are implemented in a specific embodiment of theinvention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular programnomenclature herein is used merely for convenience, and thus theinvention should not be limited to use solely in any specificapplication identified and/or implied by such nomenclature. The presentinvention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge devices. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or device. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles ofthe embodiment, the practical application or technical improvement overtechnologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for archiving data, comprising the stepsof: a computer detecting that a threshold value associated with astorage capacity of a first data archive has been exceeded, wherein thefirst data archive is owned by a first user; the computer determining asecond data archive of one or more other data archives for migration ofa portion of data contained in the first data archive, wherein the oneor more other data archives are linked to the first data archive basedon the content of the first data archive, and wherein the second dataarchive is owned by a second user; the computer determining the portionof data in the first data archive to be migrated to the second dataarchive based on a relationship of the portion of the data to the seconduser; and the computer migrating the determined portion of data from thefirst data archive to the second data archive.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: the computer sending a request to the determineddata archive requesting permission to migrate at least a portion of theportion of data.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of thecomputer determining the second data archive to migrate a portion ofdata further comprises: the computer determining a third data archive tomigrate the portion of data; and the computer migrating a first portionof the portion of data to the second data archive and migrating a secondportion of the portion of data to the third data archive.
 4. The methodof claim 3, further comprising the step of the computer determining thefirst portion of the portion of data contains information that isassociated with an owner of the second data archive and the secondportion of the portion of data contains information that is associatedwith an owner of the third data archive.
 5. The method of claim 3,further comprising the step of the computer transmitting a list to anowner associated with the first data archive, wherein the list includesinformation detailing that the first portion of the portion of data hasbeen migrated to the second data archive and the second portion of theportion of data has been migrated to the third data archive.